Her courage melted the heart of Princess Diana and helped inspire fellow paraplegic Superman actor Christopher Reeve to fight back from the depths of despair.

Now Gemma Quinn, who was paralysed from the neck down at the age of seven in a horrific car crash, again faces one of the biggest fights of her life after revealing she is virtually penniless.

She won a £3.9million compensation settlement in 2000, eight years after the family car, driven by her father, was hit by a lorry in North Wales, severing her spinal cord.

Survivor: Gemma Quinn is now facing financial strife after costly care that could have been free from the NHS

But the cost of round-the-clock medical care, mobility equipment and pioneering treatments has eaten into the payout.

Now Miss Quinn, 27, is preparing to
seek legal advice after learning her local primary care trust should
have been paying for her medical care for the past nine years.

She is relying on a ruling in 2002
which said the NHS had to pay for the continuing long-term care of
patients despite multi-million pound awards or settlements. Miss Quinn
says she was not told of this change and continued to pay her
£100,000-a-year care bill herself.

Although Liverpool NHS PCT is now
paying for her 24-hour care she says she hopes to get back some of the
money she paid since 2002.

Miss Quinn, who lives in Woolton,
Liverpool, said: ‘It has been an utter nightmare because I have been
funding my own care since 2000.

‘We have been in a really bad
financial predicament, so much so that for the two years until March
this year, I had virtually no care.’ At the time of her accident in
1992, doctors said Gemma would never live an independent life but she
was determined to prove them wrong. She learned to operate a word
processor with her mouth and gained good GCSE and A-level results.

Not long after her accident Gemma
wrote to late actor Reeve after learning he had broken his spine in the
same place as her in a horseriding accident, urging him not to give up
hope. Reeve said at the time: ‘This amazing young lady showed me an
example of how to cope.’

She met the Princess of Wales, who had
heard about the letter, on an official visit to Liverpool in 1995.
Later, at the age of 12, she took part in Princess Diana’s funeral
procession. Miss Quinn campaigned for spinal research charities, raising
more than £100,000, and in 1996 won a Child of Courage award.

Expensive care: Gemma, aged 19, at the Mind Instructor Centre in London having a form of body and mind therapy with instructor Hratch Qgali

As well the cost of care, Miss Quinn
says a failed business venture, ill-timed share investments and a home
education means she is facing a mountain of debt.

She said: ‘People ask where all the
money has gone. But more than £1million went on care, more on
specialist treatments and day-to-day living. I’ve got some property but
that is mortgaged and could be repossessed.

‘I didn’t know I could get help with
the care costs and, despite being fully aware of my circumstances and
previously providing care for me, the PCT never came forward to offer me
help.’ Miss Quinn said her financial situation had forced her to move
back with her parents, Michael and Jacqueline, who have since split.

With her family: Gemma posing with her father Michael in 2001

She is facing further medical problems
after developing a bladder stone requiring surgery which is complicated
by her paralysis.

The stone triggers a blood pressure
condition called autonomic dysreflexia, which causes excruciating
headaches and can prove fatal if left untreated. She is hoping to
undergo surgery later this month after the operation was postponed.

A Liverpool NHS PCT spokesman last night said they needed to speak to Miss Quinn to assess her case regarding her care.

Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS
Trust, where Miss Quinn is due to have her operation, said the surgery
had been rescheduled to the next available date.